Combined plumb



(No Model.)-

J. MORRISON.

COMBINED PLOMB, LEVEL, AND RULE.

No. 342,303. "Patented May 18, 1886.

WITNESSES t, INVEN TOR @ZW y T ATTORNEYS.

N. PETERS. PlvaAo-Limugmphcr. Washington, D. c.

UNITED STATES JOHN MORRISON, OF ST.

COMBINED PLUMB,

LOUIS, MISSOURI.

LEVEL, AND RULE.

.FEPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No 342,303, dated May 18, 1886.

Application filed Januar-y19, 1856. Serial No. 180,230.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN MORRISON, of St. Louis, and State of Missouri, have invented a new and Improved Combined Rule, Plu mb, and Level, of which the following` is a full, clear, and exact description.

rIhe Object of my invention is to provide a new and improved tool which is to be used for general measuring, and also for leveling and plumbing, which tool can be folded to a size convenient for transportation or pocket use.

The invention consists of a rule made in hinged seetions,of a plumb, and of a graduated straight-edge pivoted to one section. ,v

The invention also consists of various parts and details, as will be more fully described and set forth hereinafter, and then pointed out in the claims. v

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this speciiicatiomin which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the iignres.

Figure l is a front elevation ofmy improve ment, showing the rule and plumb. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the improvement showing it as a level. Fig. 3 is a face view of the graduated straight-edge. Fig. 4t isadetail face view of the hinge which joins the sections. Fig. 5 is a crosssection on theline :c x, Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail side elevation of my improved hinge.

As shown in the drawings, the rule is made of two sections hinged together, but any number of sections may be joined in the manner hereinafter described.

rlhe sections A and B are united by a hinge, C, and each section is provided onits face with a scale divided into feet, inches, and sub-divisions of the latter. The outer ends of the sections A and B are each provided with an aperture, D, which is used as a hand-hole or as an aperture for the plumb-bob to play in.

The section B is provided on its under side with a recess, B', in which can be folded the straight-edge E, hinged near the aperture D to the section P. The graduations on the face of the straight-edge represent degrees and subdivisions of the same commencing at the eenter with O and. running upward to the right and left, the spaces between the lines of the graduations being proportional to the tangent of the angle measured.

`gles to the plates Oand C2.

(No model rlhe hinge C consists of the hinge-plates C C2, fastened by means of screws to the sections A and B, respectively, which plates O and Of are united by the pin C3 to form the hinge proper. The plates O O2 are provided with the plates C4 C, respectively, which stand at right an- The plates C4 and C5 also extend sidewise from the plates O and O2, and can be securely fastened to each other by means of the thumb-screws F, placed infre cesses A in the section A.

Each end of the plate O" is provided with a recess, C", in which fits a lug, C7, attached to each end of the plate O, so as to prevent the said plates C* and O" from shifting upon each other, and hence stiffening thehinge C.

The plate O2 of the hinge C is slightly beveled on its lower edgeto receive a corresponding bevel formed on the upper edge of the straight-edge 1 l,so that when the straightedge E is placed in its recess B of the seetionB the upper beveled edge may be sprung under the beveled edge ofthe plate Oi, to hold it in position.

The plumbcord'G,provided on itslower end with a plumb-bob, H, has its upper end attached to the center of the hinge O, andhangs vertically midway between the sections A and B.

My improved tool can be used as a rule by securing the different sections together by means of the thumbscrews F, fastening the plates C* and C5 to each other, so as to form a straight rule of the different sections. The graduations are continuous on the different sections and read up on one edge of the sections and down on the other.

The tool can be used as a plumb, as shown Yin Fig. l, by using the aperture D in the section A as a hand-hole, so that theplumb will play in the aperture D of the section B.

The tool can be used to determine inclinations to the horizontal plane by unscrewing the thumbscrews F and placing the sections A and B in the position shown in Fig. 2. The straight-edge E is swung downward, the outer edge of the same being placed in a recess, A2, made in the under side of the section A, so as to form an isosceles triangle.

The plumb-cord G withits plumb-bob His suspended vertically from the hinge C, and any variation ofthe lower ends of the sections IOO YYprotect the rule 'from rapid wear.

A and B vfrom a horizontal plane will be indicated by the pluinb-cord G on the graduated straight-edge E, to either the right or left.

The straight-edge E can be held in the recess B, as before stated, and the sections A and B folded one on the other, so that the pluinbcord G is held between the sections,and the plumb-bob H held in the two apertnresD ot' the sections A and B, thereby folding the tool inte convenient shape for transportation or pocket use.

The outer ends of the sections A and B are provided withstrengthening-ferrules Lso as to The tool can also be used as a straight-edge when extended toits full length in any desired manner.

Having thus described niy invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A combination-tool consisting of two or incre sections hinged together and provided at their outer ends with apertures and on their edges with graduated scales of feet, inches, and subdivisions of the latter, of a plumb cord and bob suspended from the center of the hinge uniting the sections, and of a hinged graduated straight-edge, substantially as herein shown and described.

and the section B, in combination with the hinge C, consisting of the plates O and C2, and

Vthe plates C* and C5, capable of being fastened together by means of the thumb-screws F, substantially as herein shown and described.

4. The section A, having the apertures A, the plate O,attaehed to the section A and provided wit-h the plate O, having the lugs O7, in combination with the section B, to which is attached the hinge-plate G2, provided with a plate, C", having the recesses C at itsouter ends, together with the thumb-screws F and hinge pin or pintle O, substantially as herein shown and described.

5. The section B, having a recess, B, and the hinge-plate OZ ofthe hinge O, in combination with the graduated straight-edge E,\vhieh can be folded into the recess B and held therein by the iower beveled edge of the plate O2 of the hinge O, substantially as herein shown and described.

6. The sections A and B, having apertures D, and united by the hinge O, in coinbination with the plumb-cord G and the bob H, substantially as' herein shown and described.

7. The sections A and B, having the aper tures D, united by a hinge, O, and held together by the thumbscrews F, in combina tion with the pluinbcord G and the plunibbob H, substantially as herein shown and described.

JOHN MORRISON.

'\Vitnesses:

JULrUs HURTER, ARCHIBALD HUTTON. 

